Friday, August 22, 2008

Chakavetadze goes to Pilot Pen final

It was anything but pretty, but it held my attention. Anna Chakvetadze and Amelie Mauresmo--both known for pairing moments of brilliance with impressive flubs--lived up to their reputations tonight. Both had trouble serving, and both made careless errors. Chakvetadze took the first set by playing with admirable aggression, and lost the second by failing to put a harness on that aggression. Mauresmo--usually superb at the net--was often less than stirling when she approached tonight. The third set was much closer than the score indicates, but Chakvetadze was able to take it, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. She will play Caroline Wozniacki in the final.

Thanks to ESPN for making Chak's overhead-whiffle-oopsie the Shot of the Day. I laughed my head off, even the third time I saw it.

I STILL Stand With Maria

About the blog author

Diane Elayne Dees is a writer, a semi-retired psychotherapist in private practice, and a life-long fan of women's professional tennis.

For several years, Diane published the progressive blog, The Dees Diversion, and she also contributed regularly to the Mother Jones MoJo Blog. Diane has published political essays, short fiction and creative nonfiction. For the past several years, she has concentrated on writing poetry (Diane has written several tennis-themed poems).